1918 World Series
The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, going back to 1903. The 1918 Series was played under several metaphorical dark clouds. The Series was held early in September due to the World War I "Work or Fight" order that forced the premature end of the regular season on September 1, and remains the only World Series to be played entirely in September. The Series was marred by players threatening to strike due to low gate receipts. There were also rumors of a "fix", http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2005-06-09-sox-cubs-1918_x.htm#rigged but there was no solid evidence and, with the war dominating the news, nothing came of it. It would be another season before baseball's relationship with gambling would erupt in a major scandal. Pete Alexander of the Cubs did not play in the Series. The Chicago home games in the series were played at Comiskey Park, which had a greater seating capacity than Weeghman Park, the prior home of the Federal League Chicago Whales that the Cubs were now using and which would be rechristened Wrigley Field in 1925. The Red Sox had played their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series in the more expansive Braves Field, but they returned to Fenway Park for the 1918 series. 1918 would be the last Red Sox World Series Championship until 2004. The drought of 86 years was often attributed to the Curse of the Bambino. The alleged curse came to be when the Red Sox traded the superbly talented but troublesome Babe Ruth (who was instrumental in their 1918 victory) to the New York Yankees for cash after the 1919 season. Through the 2008 season, the Cubs are still waiting to win their next World Series. The Cubs, who last won in 1908, won the National League but lost the Series in 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945. The Red Sox, who had won the American League but lost the Series in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986, finally won the World Series in 2004 and 2007. † For the first time in the Series, all four umpires worked in the infield on a rotating basis. In previous Series from 1909 through 1917, two of the four umpires had been positioned in the outfield for each game, in addition to the standard plate umpire and base umpire. Summary AL Boston Red Sox (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (2) Matchups Game 1 Thursday, September 5, 1918 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois Game 1 went to the Red Sox, 1–0, with Babe Ruth pitching the shutout before 19,274 fans. Stuffy McInnis knocked in the game's only run, driving in Dave Shean with a fourth-inning single off Hippo Vaughn. Game 2 Friday, September 6, 1918 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois The Cubs rebounded to knot the Series with a 3–1 victory in Game 2 the next day, behind Lefty Tyler's six-hit pitching. Tyler himself had a two-run single in the second inning to make the score 3–0, and he carried a shutout into the ninth inning. Game 3 Saturday, September 7, 1918 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois The series remained in Chicago for Game 3 due to wartime restrictions on travel. On September 7, the Red Sox emerged victorious, 2–1, as Carl Mays scattered seven hits. Wally Schang and Everett Scott had back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth inning. Vaughn lost his second game of the series. Game 4 Monday, September 9, 1918 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Sunday the 8th was a travel day. The teams arrived in Boston on September 9, and the Cubs tied Game 4 in the eighth inning, breaking Ruth's World Series scoreless inning streak (going back to 1916) at 29 2/3 on hits by Charlie Hollocher and Les Mann. But the Red Sox won it in the home half of the inning on a passed ball by Killefer and a wild throw by relief pitcher Phil Douglas scoring Schang for a 3–2 victory and a 3–1 series lead. Starting pitcher Babe Ruth batted sixth for the Red Sox in Game 4. He remains the only starting pitcher in World Series history to bat other than ninth in the batting order. Game 5 Tuesday, September 10, 1918 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Vaughn finally earned a Series victory on Tuesday in Game 5, tossing a five-hit shutout as the Cubs rallied back for a 3–0 victory. Dode Paskert's two-run double in the eighth sealed the matter for the Chicagoans, after Mann had knocked in a first-inning run. Game 6 Wednesday, September 11, 1918 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Attendance for Game 6 at Fenway on Wednesday, September 11, was down from over 24,000 on Tuesday to a mere 15,238, but the Red Sox went home happy. Max Flack committed a third-inning error that allowed two Sox runs to score, and the Red Sox held on for a 2–1 victory and the World's Championship of 1918, as Carl Mays won his second game of the series. Players *The 1918 Boston Red Sox team included Sam Agnew, Stuffy McInnis, Dave Shean, Fred Thomas, Everett Scott, Harry Hooper, Amos Strunk, George Whiteman, Babe Ruth, Wally Schang, Dick Hoblitzel, George Cochran, Wally Mayer, John Stansbury, Jack Coffey, Frank Truesdale, Walter Barbare, Hack Miller, Heinie Wagner, Eusebio Gonzalez, Red Bluhm, Carl Mays, Bullet Joe Bush, Sam Jones, Dutch Leonard, Lore Bader, Jean Dubuc, Walt Kinney, Dick McCabe, Vince Molyneaux, Bill Pertica, and Weldon Wyckoff. *The 1918 Chicago Cubs team included Bill Killefer, Fred Merkle, Rollie Zeider, Charlie Deal Charlie Hollocher, Les Mann, Max Flack, Dode Paskert, Turner Barber, Bob O'Farrell, Pete Kilduff, Charlie Pick, Bill McCabe, Chuck Wortman, Rowdy Elliott, Tom Daly, Fred Lear, Tommy Clarke, Lefty Tyler, Hippo Vaughn, Claude Hendrix, Phil Douglas, Paul Carter, Speed Martin, Roy Walker, Pete Alexander, Harry Weaver, Vic Aldridge, and Buddy Napier. Composite box 1918 World Series (4–2): Boston Red Sox (A.L.) over Chicago Cubs (N.L.) |}} Firsts and unique records *Lefty Tyler was the first hurler in World Series history to allow eleven (11) bases on balls in a six-game Series; a record that has since been tied twice (Lefty Gomez in the 1936 World Series & Allie Reynolds in the 1951 World Series), but never surpassed. *During the 1911 World Series, Giants ace Christy Mathewson (1–2) pitched 27.0 innings. Six (6) years later Red Faber (3–1) tied the six-game Series record in the 1917 World Series, and in this series Hippo Vaughn (1–2) tied the mark as well. *The 1906 World Series, 1907 World Series, and 1918 World Series are the only three (3) Fall Classics where neither team hits a home run. *The Red Sox scored only nine (9) runs in the entire Series. This total is the fewest runs by the winning team in World Series history. Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 71–75) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2126. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1918 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1918 1918 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1918 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1918 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org World Series Category:World Series Category:Boston Red Sox Category:Chicago Cubs Category:1910s